Indian Wells, Mar 13: World No. 123 Luca Nardi defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the third round of the Indian Wells on Monday. Nardi claims to have grown up idolising Djokovic, and he played arguably the game of his life to beat the Serb, producing an emotional moment upon clinching the victory.Earlier in the tournament, Gael Monfils came back from 3-0 down to defeat Cameron Norrie 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-3 to qualify into the last 16.
Monfils was in an absolute mood as he thrilled the audience with his creative strokeplay to defeat Norrie, and set up a date with either Arthur Fils or Casper Ruud in the knockouts.
Norrie had won the Indian Wells in 2023. However, he committed as many as 60 unforced errors in the previous match. Further, he was unable to overcome Monfils in an over three-hour-long encounter.
Holger Rune overcame the Lorenzo Musetti challenge by defeating him 6-2 7-6(5), and the 17th-seed Tommy Paul cruised past Ugo Hambert in straight sets by 6-4 6-4 in the third round of the tournament.